Anti-gay hate group has cozy ties to Putin, Russia
The World Congress of Families (WCF) is moving full speed ahead with plans to hold an international anti-LGBT conference at the Kremlin in Moscow this fall, despite the growing international crisis in Ukraine and the withdrawal of key conference partner Concerned Women for America over concerns that holding the conference would give the appearance of “giving aid and comfort to Vladimir Putin.”
The Illinois-based WCF has been designated an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups across America. The Concerned Women for America is also on that same list.
Ty Cobb, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) director of global engagement, demanded that the WCF break ties with Putin and Russia.
“If a group like Concerned Women for America recognizes the recklessness of providing support for the Putin regime, then it’s incredible other anti-LGBT groups would not follow suit,” Cobb said.
“President Putin has trampled the rights of its LGBT citizens at home and is embroiled in an international crisis over Ukraine. The other partners in the World Congress of Families must now follow suit and withdraw from this event.
“HRC calls on the National Organization for Marriage, Focus on the Family and the other American partners of this conference to renounce their ties to the Putin regime and cancel their participation in the World Congress of Families,” Cobb said.
Mother Jones magazine reported that the Moscow meeting of the WCF is being largely funded by Putin ally Konstantin Malofeev, a Russian oligarch who is a major patron of the homophobic Russian Orthodox Church. Malofeev owns a significant stake in Rostelecom, Russia’s largest telecommunications company and was a general partner of the Sochi Olympics where he benefitted richly from his connections to Putin.
The WCF, which has little influence in the United States, has found strong support in homophobia Russia and has held at least five events in that country.
The World Congress of Families brings together thousands of anti-LGBT activists from around the world to plot their next moves to block equality around the world.
The leadership of this organization is dominated by Americans who have lavished praise on the Putin regime for their crackdown on LGBT rights and freedom of expression.
Republished with permission of San Diego Gay and Lesbian News: “Anti-gay hate group has cozy ties to Putin, Russia.”
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